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University of Texas against Bush’s border wall

Last year the only known wild jaguar in the United States was captured in a trap and euthanized by Arizona Wildlife authorities. The death of this big cat, called Macho-B, triggered a federal investigation that found violations of the procedures that are meant to protect endangered species.

But at the heart of this case are a number of federal wildlife protections that were tossed out in favor of the Secure Fence Act. In this edition of the This American Land we take look at the ecological impact of a 600-mile barrier along the Mexican boarder. Ostensibly to keep immigrants from illegally entering the U.S. this border fence is also preventing the migration of several animal species.

Our jaguars here depend on a source population in Mexico that are dispersing up to the United States looking for habitat, looking for mates, looking to establish new territories, said Randy Serraglio of the Center for Biological Diversity. And if they cant get through that border wall, theyre not gonna come here.

Recently, the Bush administration announced it would build an additional 670 miles of border fence by the end of the year. But the fence would “slice through” the University of Texas, Brownsville, which borders Mexico, cutting off the school’s golf course from the rest of the campus. The AP reports that school officials are saying the fence would undermine the university’s mission of fostering cooperation with Mexico:

“The university — built close to the Rio Grande on land where the United States and Mexico traded cannon blasts during the Mexican-American War 160 years ago — recruits Mexican students, offers government and business classes in English and Spanish and turns out sorely needed bilingual teachers. […]

“To slice off and fence off the `bi’ part of `binational’ violates the essence of this university,” said university President Juliet V. Garcia, whose office is situated in what was once the thick-walled, tan-brick hospital at Fort Brown, built shortly after the Civil War.”